The Minié rifle

Marjie Bloy Ph.D., Senior Research Fellow,
National University of Singapore

In 1847, Captain Claude Etienne Minié of the Chasseurs d'Orléans
had invented the blunt lead bullet; in 1849 he invented the rifle that was named
after him. It had a percussion lock and weighed 10 lbs 9 ozs. It fired a hollow
based bullet of .702 inch calibre. The rifle fired a conical bullet with a cavity
in its base plugged with a piece of iron. By the explosion of the charge the
iron plug was driven further in, expanding the sides to fit closely the grooves
of the barrel.

Reasonable accuracy could be achieved at distances up to 600 yards and the
500 grain bullet could penetrate 4 inches of soft pine at 1,000 yards. These
weapons had sights installed for proper aiming.